Listed below are some
subjects which therapists may or may not be aware that their patients
are effected by. If someone is reporting a rape they should
ask the local crisis center for a victim's
advocate who will walk them through the process. For
information on Reporting
a rape click here.

Interpersonal
Communication and Rape: Women Acknowledge Their Assaults -
"Sharing common stories is an important way in which these young
women name or redefine their experiences as rape. This research also
shows there is an important stage in between ''yes I was raped"
and ''no I was not raped" that warrants further investigation to
understand the nature of redefining or naming a rape experience as rape."

Secondary victimization is the
re-traumatization of the sexual assault, abuse or rape victim. It is an
indirect result of assault which occurs through the responses of individuals
and institutions to the victim. The types of secondary victimization include
victim blaming, inappropriate behavior or language by medical personel
and by other organizations with access to the victim post assault. (Campbell
et. al., 1999)

"The purpose
of the study was to discover the meaning of recovery from the perception
of the victim, how recovery is experienced, and what contributed to the
growth and recovery of the woman who has been raped...The thematic structure
of a woman's recovery from rape comprises 3 main themes: reaching out,
reframing the rape, and redefining the self."

Abstract:The author's aim
is to bring forth the consequences of sexual assault on women with a view
to abate this crime against women. Data are extracted from the literature
through the computerised MEDLINE system.

Women sexually assaulted
in childhood are twice as likely to be sexually assaulted in adulthood.

Post-traumatic mental problems,
acute stress disorders, depression and other psychological problems are
found in victims of sexual assault. Women often suffer from sleep disorders,
nightmare, anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation, and diminishing of
sexual urge and pleasure among other disorders following sexual assault
or rape. Recovery is slower in sexual than in non-sexual assault victims.
Factors influencing recovery are emotional support from friends, relations,
social and community supports. Overall social changes in outlook and perception
towards women are needed in the modern society to curb the sexual assault
on women.

Abstract:(from the cover)
In the US alone, approximately 1.5 million adult female survivors of rape
are estimated to suffer from chronic posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
This book provides a step-by-step guide to proven brief cognitive-behavioral
therapy techniques for treating traumatized women. Filling an urgent need
of front-line practitioners working within managed care guidelines, the
book includes numerous case examples illustrating sensitive and effective
information gathering and intervention, as well as explanations of how
to cope with common problems and complications in treatment.

"Rappaport (1995) argued
that listening to the stories of people's lives should be an important
goal of community psychology. Through analysis of these narratives, researchers
can gain new insights into community phenomenon. Perhaps in a similar
manner, the narratives of the researchers themselves may shed some light
on the process of how research is actually conducted and constructed.
In the story of the UIC Women & Violence Project, our narrative focuses
on how we identified, recruited, and interviewed a community-based sample
of rape survivors. The stage of designing a sampling plan is often overlooked
and undiscussed, but in our project, this task raised practical and conceptual
problems unlike those we had ever encountered in prior work. How were
we going to find rape survivors? Who was "the community" with
whom we wanted to work? And, once we found these rape survivors, how could
we create a safe space for them to tell their stories? Wrestling with
these questions prompted us to reinterpret classic ideas of communities,
settings, and the purpose of community-based research."

The coping strategies that a victim
of a rape engages in can have a strong impact on the development and persistence
of psychological symptoms. Research provides evidence that victims who
rely heavily on avoidance strategies, such as suppression, are less likely
to recover successfully than those who rely less heavily on these strategies.
The present study utilized structural path analysis to identify predictors
of avoidance coping following rape and examined factors in the assault
itself (e.g., force, alcohol use), sequelae of the assault (e.g., self-blame,
loss of self-worth), and social support as potential direct and indirect
predictors of avoidance coping. From a sample of 1,253 university women,
the responses of 216 women who endorsed an experience of rape were examined.
Results suggested that sequelae of the assault such as feelings of self-blame
and negative reactions received from others are potentially important
predictors of avoidance coping. Implications of the results for future
rape recovery research are discussed

VanDeusen, Karen M.; Carr,
Joetta L.. (2004). Group Work at the University: A Psychoeducational Sexual
Assault Group for Women. Social Work with Groups. 27 (4). p51-64, 14p.

Abstract

This article describes an
innovative psychoeducational support group for female survivors of sexual
assault. The intervention model takes place in a University setting and
is free, confidential and easily accessible. The psychoeducational format
allows survivors at various levels of healing to gain information about
common sexual assault effects, rape myths, and coping strategies, and
to explore their feelings and thoughts in a safe environment. This article
also includes a review of theoretical and empirical literature on group
work with female sexual assault survivors. Methods for screening members
and recruitment techniques are also discussed.

This study examines the stories
acquaintance rape victims tell through semi-structured interviews. Acquaintance
rape, viewed here as a particularly paradoxical crime, creates a need
for women to resolve the inconsistency of their experience. By conducting
interviews with victims and analyzing their verbal communication, this
project explores how victims frame their rape experience. Framing strategies
used by victims of sexual harassment served as a guide for the initial
identification of framing strategies for victims of acquaintance rape.
Women in this study utilized strategies of paradox management to assess
blame, define, and reframe their experiences. Recognition of these management
strategies can assist social support networks and law enforcement professionals
in identifying the communicative strategies of female victims of varying
types of violence.

Comments from sexual assault
patients on their therapy experiences:

One person expressed that
they would prefer to learn coping skills over using medication. They had
negative reactions to the medications previously prescribed.

Language sensitivity: Using particular
words sometimes triggers assault patients. Perhaps asking which term the
victim would like to use would be better than choosing a descriptive word
for them (rape, assault, incident).

Minimizing the patient's
traumatic experiences.

Telling the patient they
"should" forgive the perpetrator when no apology or amends have
been made.

"EMDR, or eye movement desensitization
and reprocessing, is a new, nontraditional, very short-term therapy for
treating trauma victims that utilizes rhythmical stimulation such as eye
movements or hand taps"

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